Joseph has a chance to make point

For Spurs point guard Cory Joseph, the first rule of replacing an All-Star such as Tony Parker is easy enough.

Namely, forget trying to replace Tony Parker.

“I’ve got to be Cory Joseph,” said the 21-year-old Canada native. “I can’t do what Tony does. I just have to go in there and be myself.”

As recently as a week ago, Joseph was running the show for the Spurs’ Development League affiliate in Austin, thriving against the likes of the Idaho Stampede and Sioux Falls SkyForce.

Tonight at the AT&T Center, against a Chicago Bulls team boasting arguably the nastiest defense in the NBA, the former first-round draft choice is set for his second consecutive start for the big club.

With Parker out for up to four weeks with a left ankle sprain, how the Spurs respond without their leading scorer, assist man and catalyst will largely determine whether they hold on to the top spot in the Western Conference.

How Joseph handles the responsibility could chart the course for the rest of his NBA career.

“It’s not the easiest thing to do,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, 14 years Joseph’s elder. “You’ve been in the D-League for a long time, and you know you have this huge opportunity with Tony out for a month. So, you’ve got to be ready.”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich named Joseph — a second-year player out of Texas with 39 games of NBA experience to that point — the substitute starter before Sunday’s 114-75 victory over Detroit.

Popovich chose him over fourth-year pro Patty Mills and rookie Nando De Colo, both of whom owned more career starts than Joseph’s one.

The 6-foot-3 Joseph was solid enough against the Pistons, scoring eight points with four assists. He was active on defense and, most important, surrendered only one turnover.

“He’s improved a lot the couple of years he’s played down in the D-League,” Popovich said. “He’s gotten his opportunity, and he seems to be taking advantage of it.”

It helps that nobody is asking Joseph to replicate the 21 points and 7.6 assists Parker is averaging during an All-NBA caliber season. The Spurs simply need Joseph to be a game manager and, simply put, not muck things up.

The Spurs have already shown an ability to beat the Bulls short-handed, pocketing a 103-89 win on last month’s rodeo trip with Parker, Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Stephen Jackson sidelined.

“With the big dogs out, you’ve got to go out there and just play the system,” forward DeJuan Blair said. “The system’s a beast, so it doesn’t matter who’s in it.”

For Joseph, it has been a short trip from Henderson, Nev., where he played his final two high school seasons at noted basketball factory Findlay Prep in 2009 and 2010, to the starting lineup for the top team in the NBA.

At Findlay, Joseph played alongside fellow Canadians and future Longhorns Tristan Thompson, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Myck Kabongo.

Joseph spent one season at UT, stunning many in Austin by declaring for the 2011 draft, where the Spurs took him 29th overall.

“When I look back, I know I made the right decision,” Joseph said. “I’m not going to look back and say I should have stayed.”

Growing up in the Toronto suburbs, Joseph was a rarity in Canada — raised in a basketball family to not give a puck about hockey.

Joseph’s mother, Connie, and father, David, were former college basketball players in their home country. His older brother, Devoe, played at the University of Minnesota and plays professionally in Europe. His cousin, Kris, played at Syracuse and is in the D-League.

“It’s a whole family thing,” Joseph said.

Joseph is one of seven active NBA players to hail from Canada and only one of two point guards. Steve Nash of the Los Angeles Lakers, a two-time league MVP, is the other.

In a country so devoted to hockey that the sport is pictured on national currency, Joseph was an anomaly. He still doesn’t know how to ice skate.

Asked after a recent Spurs practice to name as many NHL players as he could, Joseph could come up with only one: Wayne Gretzky.

“My first sport was soccer,” Joseph said. “Then I moved right to basketball.”

Even in his wildest Canadian hoop dreams, Joseph could not have envisioned an opportunity like the one he now faces as Parker’s stand-in. He aims to make the most of it, simply by being Cory Joseph.